In an oral history interview, Barry revealed how he began his civil rights activism early when he worked delivering newspapers. His employer failed to live up to a promise to send paperboys who got 15 new customers on a trip to New Orleans.
Because he and his peers were Black, the newspaper said it couldn’t send them to segregated New Orleans and it couldn’t afford two buses. Barry decided to boycott his paper route until his employer agreed to send the boys to St. Louis instead, which wasn’t segregated.
Barry spent the rest of his life advocating for a more just and equitable society for Black and underserved people. He was president of the student NAACP chapter at LeMoyne College in Memphis, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He led the first sit-ins in Nashville after graduating with his master’s degree in chemistry from Fisk University.
Barry was also the first national chairman on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He served on the school board and his activism informed many of his policies in D.C.
